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Relative reinforcing value of exercise in inpatients with anorexia nervosa: Model development and pilot data
Author(s) -
Schebendach Janet E.,
Klein Diane A.,
Foltin Richard W,
Devlin Michael J.,
Walsh B. Timothy
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.20392
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , psychology , beck depression inventory , depression (economics) , population , association (psychology) , physical therapy , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , psychotherapist , eating disorders , anxiety , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Objective: This study sought to quantify, among patients hospitalized for the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN), the reinforcing value of exercise, defined as the amount of work a patient would expend for the opportunity to exercise. Method: Sixteen inpatients with AN performed a computerized progressive ratio (PR) task for the opportunity to exercise for either 15 or 30 min, or a monetary voucher. Exercise “breakpoint” was calculated and compared with clinical measures. Results: Patients performed an average of 1134.4 (±751.2) button presses for exercise. Exercise breakpoint was significantly correlated with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; r = .728, p = .001), and there was a trend toward a correlation with the Commitment to Exercise Scale (CES; Davis, 1993; r = .490, p = .054). Conclusion: Results support the feasibility and potential utility of this novel application of the PR task to quantify the reinforcing value of exercise in AN. The association between exercise and depression is consistent with some prior studies in AN. The trend toward an association with CES scores suggests that breakpoint captures an aspect of the motivation for exercise in this population. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007